Disintegration of vegetable substances for the separation of fiber



' Be it known that I, GEORGE moves portions of the plant-that are ditlicult encasement; stamens, or' nsnznts counter, ncisors-L msinrzenmon or recliners swims arma en s rises, self ,L S ecification forming pm of Letters Patent so, 10,676, dated Koveinber 10,138.1 3

To all whom it may wncem:

Escor. SELL- ERS, of Hardin county, in the State of Illinois,

have invented certain Improvements in the Mode'ofDisintegratingVegetable Substances; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof.

The object of my invention is the disintegration of yegetable substances-such as the cane, (Arandinaria macros ermm) sugar c ane,

' reed, straw, grasses, hemp, flat, or woods-and the separation of their fibrous from the nonfibrous portions, so as to fit them for paperstock or other purposes for which they are adapted by a process of steaming or steamwashing, combined with well-known mechanical operations, in a cheaper and more thorough ing or washing engine used by paper-makersi and washin gout the coagulated portions, which are now in fine particles, and preserving the same in a condilion'applicable to the arts, !caringthe fiber comparatively free and clean, so as to require but a small amount of caustic alkali or other chemical agencies toentirely free it and prepare it for bleaching.

In order to render the process clear to any practical mechanic or paper-maker, 1 will doscribe the process as I use it for cane, the same being applicable to any other vegetable sub stance containing fiber. a 4

I take the cane fresh cut and place it in an iron cylinder or boiler, such as is used by paper-makers for boiling straw or rags. At'ter closing this cylinder or boiler I admit steam from an ordinary steam-boiler, which steam I allow to pass through the boilerlcontaining the cane. until the cane has been heated to the temperature of the steam for some time. This steaming or steam-washing process carries oil" the volatile portions of the/sap, producinga strong smell, like that of burnt sugar, and relath'ettunvse n.

requiring heat. After the steam-washiughas continued for asnfiicient length of time,which I time experience soon teaches, and which va-j ries according, to the state-"of the cane under treatment, I close the escape-valve and allow it to remain under an increased heat and pressure 2. sufiicieut time to coagulate the nonfibrous cementing-matter contained in the came; The same thiug'can be effected. without closing the escape-valve by using higher or more heated steam for the washiug.' Care must be taken not to use steam of so high a temperature as to weaken or destroy theltiber b" burning I find in practice that ripe cane cutin the'i'all months, full of sap, is completely I a p softened and its non-fibrous matter coagulatedfl by an exposure of one hour to steam of one hiindred pounds pressure to the square inch, ,or 332 of temperature. The same client is produced by steaingot two hundred pounds pressure or 387 of temperature in about fif teen minutes',- but the color of the-product is darker, and when continued for too long ape 'r-iod' portions become charred, causing-black specks among the fibers. \Vh-eu the cylinders are opened the cane is in a soft, almost; pulpy state, and cannoteasil'y be handled'without falling to pieces. In this state I'pass it between rolle'rs'an-d thoroughly cr ish it. I then wash out the coagnlated cementing-matter in the common washing-engine, from which it Q flows into settling-rats; After settling I p draw oil the water, leaving the non-fibrous matter in a pasty state. This I use to mix with such kinds of paper-stockas-require foreign substances to increase their hardness or density. 1 also use it combined with fibcrin v the production of press and box boards. It is 1 an article well adapted for molding into ornamental work such as putty, papier-mach, or

plaster are used for and to which [have given the-name of Arundiue ,--as cane furnishes the same in a larger proportion than any other vegetable substance I have used; After treati ing the cane in the manner described there 7 may still remain some o'tithe cementing or none y fibrous portions of the plant mixed with the fiher. -T hese I remove by boiling in a weak solution of caustic alkali,or wash out with hot x I,

to bleach.' The steam that escapes through" I water, or render soluble before washing by soaking in a weak aqueous solution of chlorine,

and then bleach in the usual manner.

-Inj t he a bov e description I'have referred to green cane,fr'esh 'cuhas I prefer it in this state;

but dry cane, wood, straw, flnx', or other vegetable substoncescontaining fiber can he she- 'ces'sfully operated'upon by the some process. I am aware that there is no novelty in boil ing 'or steaming vegetable substances iii-alkalineor othersolnti'ons, but all such processes have heretofore been for the purpose'of dis-' solving the substances that cement the fibers together, and have been more prolonged and much more expensive than my process, which, instead of dissolving the non.-fihrous matters, carries off their most volatile portions by steam-washing, and coogn'lates, by heat the renminder into a substance distinct from the fibers and in a condition to be easily separated therefrom by crushing-or tearing to pieces and.

washing, and in this state applicable to the arts, or, when dry, may be dusted out' from the mass. of the fiber, so that what littlc'o. the cementing-matter remains is removed by boiling .with a mneh smalier pUX'IZiOD ofslkali or other less expensive methods than would have been required had not; my process been first used.

Having thus described my invention as to its object, nature, and theory of operation, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isr 1. The disintegration ofregetable' sub stances in s the manner substantially as described, and for the purposes specified. e I '2. The utilizing of the non-fibrous portions of vegetable substances, when separated from the fibrons'portions, for the purposes specified.

1 .GEO. ESCQI: SELLERS. 

